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Notes from Durant, Oklahoma

Once again, I find myself staying at my parents’ house in Kemp, OK and writing in the Sherman Panera’s. I am attending the 30th Anniversary Season of the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival. This is the 4th season I’ve been able to attend. Friday night, I saw Shakespeare’s 12th Night. I found it to be a very good interpretation of the play. Directed by Aaron Adair, the setting was South Louisiana and surprisingly, the setting worked and flowed with the language of the play. Every time I see a Shakespeare play, I’m reminded of how many common quotations come his plays. I also come away with quotations to look up. For example, I had not realized that the famous quote “Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them” came from this play. I also noticed some quotations regarding Puritans that I intend to study further. (ominous, considering what the Puritans did to theatre in those days).

Last night, I saw Honky Tonk Angels, directed by Paul B. Crook, a theatre instructor at LA TECH. This is a play by playwright Ted Swindley, who also gave the world, Always . . . Patsy Cline. The three-woman cast was well chosen, and like Always . . . Patsy Cline, the music was woven into the theme of the dreams and lives of women as affected by Nashville, an influence underated and underestimated by anyone who doesn’t understand the women of the South. The cast was comprimsed of Natalie Weaver (as Angela), Anastasia Trammell (also from LA TECH as DArlene) and Tiffany Craig (as Sue Ellen). I felt the songlist and cast to be well chosen and this was a play that I greatly enjoyed. The Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival site is here: